Thursday, November 8, 2007

Internet Addiction

Ok...so I found a website for the Center for Online Addiction. They had an internet addiction test. They definitely had a separate site for Internet addiction recovery. And I couldn't help but laugh. I felt bad, but it just seemed like a joke. Until I took the test....My score wasn't bad. I was an average online user. But reading some of those questions was kind of scary. Some were really crazy and I did laugh about it, but then i had to answer frequently for a couple.It just seems insane to me that the internet really hasn't been around for that long and people already have horrible addictions.You can find the test here

After you've answered all the questions, add the numbers you selected for each response to obtain a final score. The higher your score, the greater your level of addiction and the problems your Internet usage causes. Here's a general scale to help measure your score:

20 - 49 points: You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.

50 -79 points: You are experiencing occasional or frequent problems because of the Internet. You should consider their full impact on your life.

80 - 100 points: Your Internet usage is causing significant problems in your life. You should evaluate the impact of the Internet on your life and address the problems directly caused by your Internet usage.

After you have identified the category that fits your total score, look back at those questions for which your scored a 4 or 5. Did you realize this was a significant problem for you? For example, if you answered 4 (often) to Question #2 regarding your neglect of household chores, were you aware of just how often your dirty laundry piles up or how empty the refrigerator gets?

Say you answered 5 (always) to Question #14 about lost sleep due to late-night log-ins. Have you ever stopped to think about how hard it has become to drag yourself out of bed every morning? Do you feel exhausted at work? Has this pattern begun to take its toll on your body and your overall health?